


a baby’s breathe (of fresh new air)

by snivellus (queervulcan)



Category: The X-Files
Genre: Aliens, Alternate Universe - College/University, Bisexual Dana Scully, F/F, Falling In Love, Idiots in Love, LGBTQ Character, Trans Female Character, Transphobia, lesbian fox mulder
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-10-11
Updated: 2018-10-11
Packaged: 2019-07-29 14:35:14
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,224
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16266212
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/queervulcan/pseuds/snivellus
Summary: Scully will always spin circles around Mulder





	a baby’s breathe (of fresh new air)

**Author's Note:**

> or, square 2 of moodboard bingo

Mulder was a dreamer, there was no doubt about that. 

She believed in a world where she didn’t have to peek behind her shoulders, big eyes searching for any dangers, and be able to enter the room without garnering second glances. 

She believed in fantastical ideas; so much they called her spooky Mulder, because she believed in aliens, in conspiracies, in the possibility that someday someone would look at her and accept her femininity for what it was: not some ruse, or trick, or phase. 

That they would  _ see  _ her and  _ believe  _ her. 

She moved on with her life, year after bone tiring year, and yet she refused to give up. She gritted her teeth, took a shot on New Years, and steeled her jaw for another long year. 

* * *

She saw her red hair first.

It was hard not to. It shined in the sunlight of the campus library like a fiery halo, and when she raised her head and caught her eyes, she was entranced. 

The girl startled at being watched, and ducked her blushing head once more. Mulder stood, basking up the nerve to say hello, to sit with her, to do  _ anything _ . 

Mulder chose to walk out of the front doors, and if she had looked back, she would have seen the stranger with eyes like the sky watching her go. 

* * *

It was Scully, in the end, who made the first move. It would become a pattern, always Scully being the brave and daring yet cunning one, while Mulder was the one who, while also brave in her own way, was hopelessly reckless.

It was Scully who plopped herself down next to Mulder next time they crossed paths under the same library skylight. Mulder would startle from where she was dozing off, idly doodling spaceships and aliens on her abnormal psychology textbooks. 

Mulder would stare at her, wide eyed and slightly fumbling, not yet comfortable in her skin, as Scully smiled at her with teeth on display and her hand, so dainty compared to hers, felt snug against her shaking palm. 

* * *

They went through everything together.

Psychology school, FBI academy, and later, they would create a family together. 

But for now, Mulder was 21 and fumbling in her own skin, too baggy skirts riding down her narrow hips, and Scully would help her do her medication each week and accompany her to the restroom when she was too afraid to go alone. 

Before she knew it, Mulder was planning her life around Scully, always making sure that the hole that had been there before now had a Scully sized implant. 

She held Scully’s hand as she went through medical school, held her hair back as she stressed herself through FBI. And in return, Scully braided her hair back before they went on late night adventures; making sure it was braided the day of her surgeries, and that she always woke up with her hand in Scully's. 

* * *

For now, they are 22 and laughing through the night, exams for the next day forgotten as they run through the hills looking for things Mulder swears up and down exists.

Mulder looks at Scully and thinks,  _ she is the entire sky _ . 

Scully looks at Mulder and thinks,  _ she is made of stars _ .

* * *

 

Their alien hunting adventures started by complete accident. One night near finals, Mulder couldn’t sleep, and so she found herself outside of Scully’s apartment door.

She gave it two sharp knocks, one light rasp, and finally stood back to wait. She saw a curtain flutter, before the door was opened and Scully was standing there with a sour expression and too big pajamas hanging off her freckled shoulders. 

Before Scully could flay her alive, she was already pushing her out of the way with her broader shoulder, invading her space like she has done thousands of times in the past. 

Before Scully was even aware of it, Mulder had collected her stuff in a backpack and shoved clean, warm clothes in her arms. 

And thus, started their weekly tradition of alien hunting. 

* * *

It bore no fruit, but if Mulder’s stomach swooped when Scully looked at her and laughed with her eyes crinkled close, she didn’t say anything.

* * *

Scully wasn’t the type of girl for flowers, and Mulder had never received any, but when she saw a patch of baby breathes making their home outside Scully’s apartment, she had to take some out and bring them inside.

Scully had eyed the dirty stems while she washed them, continuously and experienced in how weary she should be of Mulder’s next “adventure”. 

There was no adventure here, but if Scully cried when Mulder snipped the stems of the flowers, and placed them around her hair like a halo, no one mentioned it again. 

And if Mulder choked up when she took a step back to admire her work, and couldn’t help but to lean down and kiss the freckles on Scully’s cheeks, no one mentioned that either. 

And both pretended not to hear Mulder whisper  _ you look like an angel _ .

* * *

Mulder is 25 and top of her class, and she pretends not to hear the slurs whispered about her. In comparison, spooky Mulder is harmless, but a lifetime of hearing slurs is different from being mocked for what she believes in with her entire faith.

Scully may roll her eyes at her and scoff, but Mulder knows deep down there is a part of her who wishes to believe. 

Mulder is 25 and fighting tooth and nail to gain the respect she knows she deserves, and is wildly jealous of Scully who gets that respect almost too easily. 

There are hiccups, as with any pig of a man, but she continues to fight for what she knows she deserves. 

Mulder is 25 and shaving her hair once again, back down until it barely curls around her ears. It makes her cheeks look more sharp, her lips fuller, and Scully can’t stop running her hands through the back of her hair, so she decides she’s gonna keep it. 

* * *

Mulder is 30 and they still try to go on adventures weekly, but now that she has a career to jumpstart and Scully is bulldozing her way through finishing  medical school and starting the FBI academy.

They don’t need to live together, they know their love is just as strong and valid as any norm following couple, and besides. She’s pretty sure Scully would bulldoze over her within the week, and she likes her space. 

Nonetheless, she makes sure to come by weekly with food- not home cooked, not after the first case of food poisoning- and to make sure Scully showers and sees fresh air.

Mulder makes sure Scully doesn’t forget her birthday, either. 

* * *

Sometimes, Mulder will look to her right side and see nobody. Sometimes it jolts her and she will panic for a moment before realization hits her.

Sometimes, she will look over and find Scully there, head barely to her shoulder, muttering to herself and her eyes set forward, determined.

When they are alone, Mulder will look at her in wonder and tuck her hair behind her ear, and watch as Scully’s eyes focus back on to her. 

She will watch as Scully gives her that same smile that crinkles around her eyes and bunches her freckles, and ignore the butterflies in her stomach. 


End file.
